Leveling structure



May 21, 1963 F. E. BUSCHBOM LEVELING STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 21, 1960 M m m TH m a Vw T m5 m 5% m m w May 21, 1963 F. E.BuscHBoM 3,090,506

LEVELING STRUCTURE Filed July 21, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

IN VEN TOR. Fwmf. BUSOIBOM AT aRNE vs 2%m wsM M y 1963 F. E. BUSCHBOMLEVELING STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 21. 1960 INVENTOR. FLOYDf. Bl/SCHBOM BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent i 3,090,506 LEVELINGSTRUCTURE Floyd E. Buschhom, Long Lake, Minn, assignor to VandaleCorporation, Long Lake, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed July 21,1960, Ser. No. 44,508 15 laims. (Cl. 214-17) This invention is a silounloader leveling means. Broadly it comprises vertically movableelevating structure mounted at the outboard end of an unloadercollecting structure that is pivoted, at its inboard end, about ahorizontal axis on a support member. A sensing means (a fixed lengthcable in the specific form shown) directs the vertically movableelevating structure to maintain the outboard end of the collectingstructure at a predetermined elevation relative to the support member,i.e., controls the elevation provided by the vertically movableelevating structure. It is a new and useful improvement for silounloaders of the type exemplified in US. Patents 2,719,058; 2,794,560and 2,877,907.

Much has been accomplished in providing practical silo unloaders asshown by the structures of the foregoing patents which have beencommercially accepted. Nevertheless continued improvements aredesirable.

Previous attempts to control the relative position of the flighting withrespect to a vertical for example have been predicated on either manualadjustment which is not satisfactory and requires much inconveniences oron leveling devices which are cumbersome and inefficient.

Accordingly it is the principal object of this invention to provide aleveling device for silo unloading mechanism.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such leveling thatis automatic by employing means comprising a sensing device whichresponds to changes in angular disposition relative to the horizontal ofthe silo unloading conveyor.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide such a leveling meanswhich has a fixed reference member with respect to which one end of theunloader flighting may change elevation and in so doing adjust thesupport means for that end of the flighting to cause it to return to thedesired elevation.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an automaticleveling means of a simple mechanical nature in which there is littlechance of malfunctioning.

Other objects are inherent in the specific structures disclosed anddescribed herein.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, this inventionthen comprises the featurm hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the following description setting forth indetail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these beingindicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be employed.

The invention is illustrated by the drawings in which the same numeralsrefer to corresponding parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the leveling structure and of so much ofa silo unloader as is necessary to illustrate the operation of theleveling device; broken lines illustrate hidden parts;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in FIGURE 1 With brokenlines illustrating hidden parts.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;broken lines illustrate hidden arts. p Referring to the drawings,specifically to FIGURE 1, a representation of the silo wall is seen atwhich encloses the ensilage 11. On top of the ensilage 11 is shown thesilo unloader of this invention comprising a 3,090,500 Patented May 21,1963 suspension or supporting assembly or means generally designated 9and a collecting arm or gathering means generally designated 8, as shownin more detail in Patent No. 2,794,560. Supporting means 9 issubstantially rotatively stationary and gathering means 8 is rotativeover the ensilage surface as described in Patent No. 2,794,560 beingdriven by drive means (not shown) of the type disclosed in Patent No.2,794,560 but which is not described in detail here since it forms nopart of the invention per se. The usual conveyor flighting 12 isrotatably supported in its frame 13. At the outer end of the flightingis seen the wall cleaner 14 and the guide wheels 15. The flighting frame13 is rigidly secured to the impeller housing 16. Seen in fragment abovethe impeller is the discharge conduit 17 supported by ring 18 to whichthe cables 19, shown in fragment, are secured and extend upward to thetop of the silo. The vertical position of cables 19 and hence of ring 18is determined by a suitable winch (not shown) under the control of theoperator. Ring 18 may, therefore, be supported at a fixed elevation andprovide a frame of reference for the collar 20.

Collar 20 is rotatably supported by ring v18 and has secured to itrigidly the arm 21 by suitable means such as the bolts 22. Impellerhousing 16 and, therefore, also flighting frame 13 and flighting 12 arepivotally supported in collar 20 at a single pivot axis comprising ashere shown a pair of diametrically oppositely positioned bolts one ofwhich designated 24 appears in FIG- URE 1 and both of which may be seenin FIGURE 2; the second one is designated 25.

Arm 21 may be advantageously made from a pair of angle members that aresecured to opposite sides of collar 20 and converge to a single point 26as seen in FIGURE 2.

A central spine 27 over the flighting 12 is a rigid portion of flightingframe 13 and provides a suitable support for a sheave carrying means 28in which sheave 29 is rotatably supported. Spine 27 also supports anoutboard sheave holding structure 30 which rotatably supports a sheave31. A suitable elongated flexible element such as cable 32 is secured toarm 21 as at 34 is reeved under sheave 29 and over sheave 3-1. Theoutboard end of the elongated flexible member 32 is secured by suitablemeans to the leveling vertically movable supporting structure generallydesignated 35 and which will be described in more detail in relation toFIGURE 3.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, frame 13 is seen to be supplied at its outerend with strut pivot supports 36 and 37 between which the leveling wheelstruts 38 and 39 are suitably pivoted as by the nut and bolt assemblies40 and 41. The two leveling wheel struts carry guides here shown assleeves 42 and 44 secured to their outboard end so as to be in anapproximate vertical position when the unloading mechaism flighting 12is in an approximately level position. Vertical elements 45 and 46slidably engage and are vertically adjustable within guides 42 and 44.Suitable means such as the set screws 47 and 43 are provided todetermine the position of vertical elements 45 and 46 within the sleeves42 and 44.

Each of the two vertical elements 45 and 46 rotatably supports a wheel49 and 50 respectively by means of suitable axles 51 and 52respectively.

The upper end of each leveling wheel strut is articulated by suitablemeans such as the U-members 54 and 55 to a cross member 56. Cable 32 issecured to cross member 56 in a suitable manner here illustrated as aneye formed by a U-bolt 57 rigidly secured to cross member 56.

Suitable pivots are provided for connecting the articulated members 54and 55 to the upper ends on the leveling wheel struts and shownillustratively here as the nut and 3 bolt assemblies 58 and 59. Similarpivots 60 and 61 connect the articulated members to the cross piece 56.

Referring again to FIGURE 1, it is pointed out that all of the levelingstructure is secured to and carried by the frame of the fiightingstructure except the fixed reference arm 21; Since the sheaves 29 and 31remain fixed to spine 27, the amount of cable 32 necessary to reachbetween them remains fixed. As the cable length itself is fixed,therefore, the amount of cable that extends from pulley 31 to crosspiece 56 and from pulley 29 to arm 21 will be a" fixed amount, being thetotal length of cable less the amount of cable extending from sheave tosheave.

When the unloader gathering means 12-15 pivots so as to raise itsoutboard end, the sheave support 28 and sheave 29'move closer to arm 21which means that a greater amount of the cable is available to reachbetween sheave 31 and cross piece 56. To the contrary, however, when thegathering structure lowers at its outboard end, a greater portion ofcable 32 than previously is required to extend from arm 21 to sheave 29,and a smaller amount of cable is available to reach from sheave 31 tocross piece 56.

When the outer end of the gathering arm raises with respect to arm 21,therefore, the element 56 is lowered which in turn permits the wheels torise and cause. more of the Weight of the outboard end of the gatheringarm to be supported by the augers and less by the wheels. The augersunder these conditions, dig into the ensilage more deeply at theoutboard end than they previously did thus causing the ensilage nearerthe wall of the silo to be removed at a more rapid rate than previously.Contrariwise, when the gathering arm dips down at its outer end and moreof cable 32 is required to reach from ari'n 21to' sheave 29, then crosspiece 56 is necessarily moved closer to sheave 31 because of the smalleramount of cable available at this point under those conditions. With thelifting of the cross piece'56, as will be clear from viewing FIGURE 3,the supporting wheels 49 and 50 are forced downward against the top ofthe end ensilage which reduces the amount of weight of the gathering armbeing supported by the augers, and hence reduces the amount of ensilagebeing conveyed from the outer end of the angers. As the greater amountof ensilage nearer the impeller housing 11 is gradually conveyed away sothat the gathering arm begins to approach level again there is aconstant readjustment of the amount 'of gathering arm Weight supportedby wheels 49 and 50 as a result in the change of elevation of the augerwith respect to arm 21. In this manner the leveling structure tends tokeep. the gathering arm horizontal at any given disposition of ring VWheels 49 and 50 are independently adjustable vertically so that theymay be'accommodated in height to the. fact that the surface of theensilage behind the moving gathering arm may be lower than that in frontof it. either wheel is raised by encountering a portion of the ensilagethat is higher than its surface generally, it will roll up overit andsimultaneously pull down on cross piece 56-. Cross piece 56 will pivotin response to such a pull, as it is pivotally secured to thearticulating links and suspended from cable 32. Such pivoting of crosspiece 56 lowers the opplosite wheel which causes it'to assume its shareof the loa It is apparent that many modifications and variations of thisinvention as hereinbefore set forth may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope thereof. The specific embodiments described aregiven by Way of example only and the invention is limited only by theterms" of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: r

1. A silo unloader comprising a depending support means, a gathering armmeans pivoted about a horizontal axis and about a vertical axis to saiddepending support means and extending therefrom to a free end, avertically movable supporting structure means adapted for engaging thesurface of ensilage and secured to the free end of said gathering armmeans for supporting it on the surface of said ensilage, and flexiblemeans interconnecting said vertically movable supporting structure meansand said depending support means for controlling the vertical positionof said vertically movable supporting structure.

2. A leveling device for a silo unloader including a support member, areference means secured to said support member, a vertically movablesupport means secured to a silo unloader at a distance from saidreference means, and means continuously interconnecting said referencemeansnnd said vertically movable support member for continuous verticaladjustment thereof.

3. A silo unloader comprising a support means, means secured to saidsupport means for suspending it in a silo, a gathering means pivotedabout a horizontal axis to said support means and extending therefrom toa free end, a vertically'm-ovable supporting structure means secured tothe free end of said gathering means, a reference means rigidly securedto said support means, and means interconnecting said reference meansand said vertically movable supporting structure means for controlthereof.

" 4. The silo unloader of claim 3 in which said means interconnectingsaid reference means and said vertically movable supporting structuremeans continuously interconnects them.

5. In combination, a radial gathering means, having an interior end andan exterior end, said gathering means journalled for rotation inahorizont-al direction about its interior end, supporting means forsupporting said interior end, a first portion of said gathering meansbeing pivoted adjacentsaid interior end for movement in a verticaldirection by pivoted attachment to a second portion of said gatheringmeans, vertically movable supporting means adapted to engage a.supporting surface and positioned adjacent said exterior end, and fixedlength flexible means connected-at one end to said second portion ofsaid gathering means and at the other end to said supporting means formovement thereof.

6. A leveling device for a silo unloader comprising a suspendedreference means connected to one end of a silo unloader gathering means,a vertically movable supporting means adapted to be secured to the otherend of said gathering means for the support thereof and fixed lengthmeans fixedly secured to said reference means and said verticallymovable support means for control thereof.

7. The leveling structure of claim 6 in which said vertically movablesupporting means includes a pair of wheels, each of said wheels beingmovably secured to said vertically movable supporting means, and meansfor moving each of said wheels independently and vertically with respectto the balance of said vertically movable supporting. means.

8. A silo unloader comprising a gathering arm pivoted near one end abouta horizontal axis to a first supporting means, a vertically movablesecond supporting means adapted to be secured to one end of saidgathering arm and cable meansinterconnecting said first and secondsupporting means for control of said second supporting means by saidfirst supporting means.

9. The structure of claim 8 in which direction changing means isprovided for engaging said cable means for changing the directionthereof.

10. A silo unloader having a support means, a gathering means pivotednear one of its ends to said support means and for movement about ahorizontal axis, strut means pivoted to the end of said gathering meansremote from its point of attachment with said support means, cable meansinterconnecting said support means and a portion of said strut mean-sabove its pivot, and a wheel rotatably secured to the lower end of saidstrut means.

11. The silo unloader of claim 10 in which there is provided a she-avesupporting means rigidly secured to said gathering means and extendingto a point above said strut, a sheave rotatably secured to said sheavesupporting means, a second sheave supporting means secured to saidgathering means near said unloader support means, a sheave rotatablysecured to said second sheave supporting means and a cable reeved aroundsaid sheaves and extending between the upper end of said strut means andsaid unloader support means.

12. The silo unloader of claim 11 in which said wheel is verticallymovable with respect to said strut means.

13. The silo unloader of claim 10 in which said wheel is verticallymovable with respect to said strut means.

14. The silo unloader of claim 10 in which there are two struts pivotedto said gathering means, a cross piece, articulating links pivoted tosaid cross piece and the upper ends of said struts, said cable meansbeing secured to said cross piece, and a wheel rotatably secured to eachstrut.

15. In combination, a radial gathering means, having an interior end andan exterior end, said gathering means journalled for rotation in ahorizontal direction about its interior end, supporting means forsupporting said interior end, a first portion of said gathering meansbeing pivoted adjacent said interior end for movement in a verticaldirection by pivoted attachment to a second portion of said gatheringmeans, vertical-1y movable supporting means adapted to engage asupporting surf-ace and positioned adjacent said exterior end, and fixedlength flexible means connected at one end to said second portion ofsaid gathering means and at the other end to said supporting means formovement thereof, and said supporting means including a cable meansincluding a plurality of members secured to a frame means at spacedpoints.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,651,438 Peterson Sept. 8, 1953 2,858,033 Hofer Oct. 28, 1958 2,863,576Trask Dec. 9', 1958 2,978,121 Chapman Apr. 4, 1961

1. A SILO UNLOADER COMPRISING A DEPENDING SUPPORT MEANS, A GATHERING ARMMEANS PIVOTED ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS AND ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS TO SAIDDEPENDING SUPPORT MEANS AND EXTENDING THEREFROM TO A FREE END, AVERTICALLY MOVABLE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE MEANS ADAPTED FOR ENGAGING THESURFACE OF ENSILAGE AND SECURED TO THE FREE END OF SAID GATHERING ARMMEANS FOR SUPPORTING IT ON THE SURFACE OF SAID ENSILAGE, AND FLEXIBLEMEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID VERTICALLY MOVABLE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE MEANSAND SAID DEPENDING SUPPORT MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE VERTICAL POSITIONOF SAID VERTICALLY MOVABLE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE.